76 FISHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908, 



31 f inches in length, while another weighed 7^ pounds and measured 

 28 inches. Both were females with partly developed eggs. The 

 stomach of the smaller one showed nothing but black slime in it; 

 there was no opportunity to examine the stomach of the larger one. 

 When steelheads first enter the creek in May and June, and while 

 they are below the first falls, they will take a bait. No trout were 

 shipped fresh from the district this year, as the authorities of Washing- 

 ton refuse to permit their sale in that state. 



Whitefisli {Coregonus). — Of this valuable food fish 7 species are 

 reported, mainly from the tributaries of Bering Sea and the Arctic 

 Ocean. A dealer in Wrangell reports having received a shipment of 

 50 pomids from a point about 30 miles up the Stikine River. They 

 were taken in a seine which was being operated for trout. 



Otlier fishes. — In addition to the above, a number of species are 

 found in the district which form, in some instances, a very important 

 portion of the food supply of the natives, and occasionally of the 

 whites. Among the more important of these may be mentioned the 

 following : Lampreys {Lamyetra aurea) , which are quite abundant on 

 the Yukon River while the latter is still icebound ; tomcod or wachna 

 (Microgadus proximus), very abundant in the northeast section of 

 Bering Sea; pike (Esox lucius); Arctic grayling {Thymallus signifer); 

 the inconnu (Stenodus maclcenzii), a very large fish; burbot or losh 

 (Lota Tnaculatus) ; sculpins {Cottidse); Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus 

 TYioTiopterygius) , an excellent food fish, with a flavor resembling that of 

 mackerel; blackfish (Dallia pectoralis) ; Boreogadus saida, found in the 

 Arctic; Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) , an excellent food 

 fish; and sand launce, or lant. 



Seaweed. — Seaweed as an article of food has always been popular 

 with the Alaska native. It is usually gathered in the summer, dried, 

 pressed in boxes, and put away for winter use. 



The natives at Kake, in southeast Alaska, during the month of 

 May gather it and, mixing it, when moist, with salt, compress it into 

 cakes measuring 1 foot in length, 1 foot in width, and from one-fourth 

 to one-half an inch in thickness. In this condition it will keep for 

 some time. The prepared product is used in making soups and for 

 other culinary purposes. A small trade in these cakes is carried on 

 with other Indian villages. 



Crabs. — Crabs are very abundant hi southeast and central Alaska, 

 and two species are eaten. In southeast Alaska they are caught in 

 various ways. A Juneau fisherman began using crab pots this year 

 to catch them for market. 



Several fishermen from Valdez started a novel industry last winter. 

 They caught 1,500 crabs of an average weight of 2^ pounds each, in 

 Cordova Bay, Prince William Sound, and after freezing them, shipped 

 them to Fairbanks, in the interior, by a horse team and wagon. 



